Student halls boost HG's order book

7 Mar Building contractor HG Construction has picked up nearly £80m of new business in recent weeks.

Guildford student accommodation

Hitchin-based HG Construction specialises in student accommodation, residential and commercial office building and has grown turnover from £40m five years ago to £150m in 2018.

The company has also opened a London office in Farringdon to be closer to its client base.

The largest of its recent contract awards is a £41m project for Scape Student Living in Guildford. HG Construction will deliver 402 student beds and 113 co-living units over five floors of concrete frame and light gauge steel with two separate basement structures.

The project involves demolition of an existing aluminium production unit next to the first student accommodation phase that was completed in 2014.

Demolition has been undertaken under a letter of intent and works are about to start on site. The student rooms are scheduled for handover in July 2020 and the co-living block six months later.

HG Construction has also signed a £22m contract with Alumno Developments for new student accommodation in Norwich. It previously built the Quad student scheme in Norwich city centre for the same developer, completing in August 2018.

The latest contract is for construction of 302 student rooms over five storeys using steel frame construction for the ground floor car park level and light gauge steel framing for the upper floors.

Called Barn Road, it is HG’s fourth project with Alumno. Enabling works to install a sewer diversion on the site under licence is taking place with piling starting this month. Completion is due in August 2020.

Finally, SACO, the Service Apartment Company, has awarded HG Construction a £15m contract to build an aparthotel on the site of a Tesco Metro store in Dalston, east London.

The new development will have 130 bedrooms over six floors and also house a micro-brewery for The Craft Beer Company.

HG Construction takes possession of the site later this month and has a 74-week build programme, using concrete frame with mainly brick façade.